KCTV 5Residents horrified after 50 skinned raccoons found dumped

There's a mysterious investigation underway in Pattonsburg, MO, after someone found dozens of animal carcasses in a stream.

Officials have confirmed at least 50 raccoons and a bobcat carcass were pulled out of a creek along Ember Avenue just west of 140th Street, and now they are investigating who is behind the illegal dumping.

Pattonsburg is about 76 miles north of Kansas City off of Interstate 35.

Someone peering into Sampson Creek may be able to see the tail of a skinned animal breaking through the sheet of ice covering it, but for Angela Jones, that wasn't the first sign that something was wrong.

"The smell was very unbearable," she said. "It made you sick."

A closer look confirmed the suspicion of illegal dumping of animal carcasses.

"It looks like somebody pulled up onto the bridge and started throwing them out," said Jones.

The Daviess County Sheriff's Department told KCTV5 that there were at least 50 raccoon carcasses and one bobcat found in the river that ran below the bridge on Ember Avenue.

Trevor Hunter, who had just finished clearing out one of his raccoon traps, said the animal's pelts can go for up to $20 a piece depending on the size of the raccoon.

"The fur buyers - I don't really know where they send them – I just know that they're wanting them," he said.

Like Jones, Hunter is upset over where the carcasses ended up.

"That's pretty ridiculous. People, they swim in the streams all the time, they even fish out of it. That's not something I'd want to be eating on," he said.

Jones is hoping authorities find the people responsible.

"Somebody needs to be held responsible so this never happens again," she said.

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